Apparatus for controlling the flow rate of liquids



Oct. 3, 1933. E. B. A. zwoYER APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE FLOW RATE OFLIQUIDS Filed Aug. 8, 1931 WITNESS ',v 50 .non of the total flow as.0005.

Patented Oct. 17933 APPARATUS' FoaootrrRoLL'ING' THE RATE F LIQUIDS fFilow Ellsworth A. Zwoy'er, Ierth Amboy, v1".`J.,"as

' signor Ato ,The General FuelA Briquette'Corpoation, New York, N. Y.;a-lcor'poration of`New York i applicati@ august 8,1931seria1 Nolssaozr 9Claims. (orma-41) "The invention relates to apparatus for supplyingmaterial of a generally liquid character to a point of.utilization andfor accurately controlling the rate of supplyo'f suChmaterial, that is,the

amount delivered per unit of time, to such point -otutilization. i

The apparatushas been designedfespecially for the supplyof a viscousbinderto be mixedwith pulverized fuelV in the process more `particularly`1Q described in my application Serial No. 557,570,

' filed August 17, 1931, of producing fuel briquettes, inwhich theaccurate proportioningof the binder to the amount of Vpulverize'dmaterial is of great importanceand where an accuracyof controlofvariations of the order of .005is desirable. It is to accomplish thistype of sensitively accurate control, especially in connection with theow of viscous liquids, that the method of this invention was devised andthe .apparatus tocarry out suchy a method was invented. The nature andutility 121" of the invention will be ysuiliciently understood from the`following'description of the apparatus as'deslgned and used for .thejust-stated purpose, although evidentlyit maybe used for the supply 2 5of other materials of similar character,'or where operating conditionsare analogous... 'Y n Aprincipal feature ofthe invention is theprovision, in association with means for moving the material, such as apump, ofalilow measuring instrumentality, such as a, meter, and a valveunder the control of such instrumentality, to

vary or readjust the amount of flowto such 'meter` in response tovariations in the-amount passing through the meter at each moment; andan addicontrolling Vmeans inthe nature of automatic light raygcontrolapparatus including photo-electric cells, or the equivalent,andcooperatingdevices or arrangements actuated by variations vin theoutput of Van electric generator (such las Va tachometer-generator)impelled by, the ilow meter, and`operativ to control aA motor whichregulates the valve, so that the valve position is .readjusted promptlyupon and in accordance with variations inthe amount Aof "material,passing 4through the meter. The control is so accurate thatfpropercorrection is automatically made for variations at the meter ofsuchahsinall propor- 11n a' preferred arrangement, the ilow'control-`ling valve is located in a` kby-pass conduit'or cir- 'cuit so that .thecontrol of flow to the meter is indirect; in other words, the desiredcorrection ofV ow rate is obtained by varying the proportion of tionalimportant' feature is .the provision of valveAV Lcas'eflfof a binder forVbriquetting, tothe mixer,

4 to pipe 11, so that by adjusting the position of I the total flowwhich is caused to move through g the by.passlco nduit or circuit. v

@The characteristicsA and advantages ofthe in.- vention are furthersuinciently. explained'in connection-.with the following detaildescription of G0 theaccompanying drawing, which shows a representativeembodiment. After considering this example, lskilled persons willunderstand that many-variations may be made without departing from'theprinciples disclosed, ,and I contemplate 65 the employment of anystructures that are properly within the scope of the appended claims.

v-In'said drawing,` Y

Fig. 1 is anA elevation in diagrammatic form of an apparatus embodyingthe invention. l L Fig.` 2` is a detail in side; elevation, from theright, of theoW-control gate .or valve with its `motor and: gearing.

Fig. 3 vis asection at 3-3, Fi g1.

The material, such as a binder` ofthe character abovereferred to,usually in a heated and viscous condition, is broughtto ythe apparatusthrough a supplypipe 1, which may be steam jacketed if desired-andall'otherparts of the apparatus, in cludingthe pump presently referredvto, through which the binder flows,l may also be jacketed,Wherevernecessary, to maintain .the material in proper condition:H ,Y YlThe pipe system through which the material flows includes a pipe 2 inWhicha pump, such as 85 Va .booster pump,A is located, andleading to a'.5 -three-Way valvei.- Inordinaryoperation the Inaterial=.propel1ed bythe vpump .passes .through the yvalveor 'lfitting 5 in whichithe valvevis located,

'to a branch point or-..T which is connected at the 90 left, asviewed inFig. 1, to a suitable' flow measur- 'ing device, such as a flow meter 7;and from the meter the materialzisdscharged through` a pipe 8 to any.desired'point of utilization, or `in the iwhere the binder is combinedAwith thepulver- L ized fuel. Fromthebranch vor T 6 there is at ltherightfiin-Fig 1) a connection. to a flow controlling gate or valve9, andfrom this valve pipes .10 and 11 lead to a pointin'the supplylineanteriorto the `pump 3,*oraslshown,`.to a l! '1212 inthesupply'line. a mainby-pass circuit throughwhich a subs-stantialproportion fof the total materialmay '-bemade to p ass ,backV to 4theintake side ofthe A,pump While .the remainder of the materialpasses .toand through the meter `'7. Preferably, there'is A ,also a secondaryby-pass circuit provided by a There Vis thus vformed pipeor connection13 from thethree-'way valve' the valve 4, any or all of the material maybe cut oir from the meter and caused to flow back through pipes 13 and11 to the supply `side of the pump,` as indicated by the broken linearrows.

Normally the ilow is as indicated by the Lsolid line arrows, that is,from the supply pipe to the pump,

to Avalve 4, to T 6 with only enough lfrom 'i tol 11 to keep thematerial from setting in 13; from this branch point adesired averageproportion of the total goes to'tlhehmeter to the mixer, as describedmore fully hereinbelow,

and the remainder passes through the controlV valve 9 and so back to theSide of the The capacity of the pump .3 is prefer-bly Sicient to delivera'substantial excess, say from approximately 25% to 50% more materialthan -is required for supply tothe mixer.

The flow meter 'l is connected, as by gears 14,

paratus `1'?. The magnitude and direction of the current supplied to thevalve motor 18 `is thus the controlled output of the controllingapparatus 17, which, in the form of the invention illus- 1 trated,operates photo-electrically and is in lturn n orV any suitable type.

controlled by variations in the amountof ilow through the" meter '1,these variations being oonverted into variations in the current outputof the tachometer genera-tor 15 whose output, as stated,

y' is conveyed Yto the controlling apparatus 17; and

motor'18 promptly opens or closes the main controlling valve 9 to acorresponding degree and accurately corrects the now raie to therequired extent by varying 'the amount of zthe total [low l which passesthrough'the main by--pass circuit 10--11 to the pump intake.

The controlling apparatus'l'l may be of a known Asr shown, it'comprisesas principal essentials an electric meterjor, indica- 1 'tor 23V havinga pointer k24 which gives an indication correspondingto the flow`through the meter in pounds per fminute. This indicator is energized bythe-output current of the generator 15,'

which v'usually passes Vthrough a variable resistance such as25.Thepointer or equivalent moving member 24 of instrument 23 may bearranged as a shutter 2 6 (see 3) to control light beams vfrom two lamps27. These light beainsgpassv through apertures'z in a casing 29 and fallupon photo-electric cells 30 which have suitable output connectlons'toamplifiers 31; vand these lampli-I iiers have suitable connections to aswitch in a switch box 32, and this switch controls the ,direction andspeed .of operation of the valve motor 18..: The photo-electricapparatusmay include a handle v33 and suitable Aconnections or means forvvadjusting :the apparatus in accordance with demand variations. Furtherdescription 'of the electric control apparatus 17 is unnecessary as itmay beof'a known type, and details ot this apparatus per se are not apart oi' the invention, except as certainessential partsv are referredto in certain of the claims Yin combination with-features of the' owproducing and controlling apparatus proper.` f

If necessary or desirable the present ilow apparatus may be arranged tooperate a recording instrument (not shown).

The operation of the apparatus will be clear from the above.description. The booster pump 43 normally .feeds a greater. amount of`material than is desired to pass to the mixer through the meter 7, theexcess flowing through the valve 9 back to the suction side of the pump.The valve is held open to the proper extent by the passage of currentofY a definite strength from the generator 15 to thek controllingapparatus 17. Upon variation in the amount of material passingthroughthenieter, the current generated by the .generator 15 vill varycorrespondingly in magnitude and the valve 9 will be suitably adjustedby its motor .18j to compel the predetermined amount of material torlowthrough the meter 7.

Byrotating the'handle 33, a counter-torque or resistance acting on thepointer 24 may be adjusted so as to vary the strength of the generatorcurrent required to bring such pointer to the normal, central positionshown in Fig. 1, and in this way the predetermir'ied rate of materialilow through the meter may be regulated at will.

The apparatus is designed to carry out the novel method whereby a liquidcircuit representing-a continuous'over-supply with reference to theamount to be withdrawn for use is established and a predetermined rate.of ow of the l liquid to the point of use is made the controllingage-nt for anaccurately responsive device controlling a by-pass liquidcircuit to permit increase of flow therethrough or to restrict the ilowtherethrough, whereby the `ilow of liquid through the line leading tothe point of use is automatically maintained by its own responsivenessto whatever may be its predetermined rate or variations of rate Aofilow. This rateof flow may be uniform or it may vary according toapredetermined schedule or it may be made' tov vary automatically withreference to the amount of another material such as .coal whichmay besupplied to the mixer at acontrolled rate, The important factor in .eachinstance is the determination of what flow is desired and then adjustingthe owcontrolling parts oi' the apparatus t0 be responsive to thepredetermined conditions. Thus the predetermined rate or Variations ofrate of flow may be constant orV vdetermined by varying conditions ofcoal iiow to the mixer automatically reflective on the flow meter forthe liquid.` In every case, however, the amount of Aliquid deliveredthrough the flow Vmeter to the mixer will always be .exactly (withinvery narrow limits of the order of .0005) thevflow calledr for by therequirements of the mixing procedure at the mixer as determined by thebriquetting `procesatne predetermined ratio of ingredients,predetermined speed, variations in speed to attain the predeterminedratio of ingredients, or

therate of feed of the mixed products to the briquettng. Press-v Iclaim':

1. Flow producing'r and controlling apparatus tothe meter and theby-pass conduit, a valve controlling the return flow through the by-passconduit, and photo-electric means automatically operating the valveunder control of the meter to 'varytheamount ot material'by-passed andthus'to vary the proportion flowing to the meter.

2. Flow producing and controlling apparatus comprising a main flowconduit, Va pump therein, a ilow meter, and a by-pass'conduit leading tothe intake side of the pump, the main conduit being arranged to supplymaterial from the pump to the meter and the by-pass conduit, a valvecontrolling the return flow through the by-pass conduit, a motor formoving the valve, and photoelectric means automatically operating themotor under control of the meter to vary the amount of materialby-passed through said valve and thus to vary the proportion flowing tothe meter.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim'2 including adjustable means Vforsetting said photo-electric apparatus to a selectively predeterminedrate of feed through the meter. Y v.

4. Flow producing and controlling apparatus comprising a main flowconduit, a pump therein, y

a ilow meter, and a by-pass conduit leading to the intake side ofthepump, the main conduit' being arranged to supplymaterial from the pumpto the meter and the by-pass conduit, a valve controlling the returnflow through the by-pass conduit, a motor operating the flow controlvalve, an electric generatorvdriven by the meter, and means controlledby output of the generator and in turn controlling the actuationV offthevalve motor to re-position the flow valve in accordance with variationsin ow through the meter.

5. Flow producing and controlling apparatus comprising a main nowconduit, a pump therein, a flow meter, and a by-pass conduit leading tothe intake side of the pump, the main conduit being arranged to supplymaterial from the pump to the meter and the by-pass conduit, a valvecontrolling the return'ow through the by-pass conduit, a motor operatingthe ow control valve,

an electric generator driven by the meter, and

photo-electric apparatus controlled by output of the generator and inturn controlling the actua'- tion of the valvemotor to re-position theflow valve in accordance with variations in flow through the meter.

6. Flow `producing and controlling vapparatus comprising a main flowconduit, a pump therein, a flow meter, and a by-pass conduit leading tothe intake side of the pump, the main conduit being arranged to supplymaterial from the pump to the meter and the by-pass conduit, avalvecontrolling the return flow through the by-p'ass conduit, and meansautomatically operating the valve under control of the meter to ,varythe amount of material `bypassed and thus to vary the proportion flowingto the meter, a secondary by-pass conduit and a valve controlling theflow of material from the pump through the secondary by-pass or to theflow meter and main by-pass conduit. Y

7. Flow producing and'controlling apparatus comprising a main llowconduit, a pump therein,

a flow meter, and a by-pass conduit leading to the intake side of thepump, the main conduit beingv arranged to supply material from the pumpto the meter and the by-pass conduit, a valve controlling the returnflow through the by-pass conduit, a motor operating thelflow controlvalve, an electric generator driven by the meter, and meanscontrolled'by the output of the generator and in turn controlling theactuation of the valve motor, to re-position the ow valve in accordancewith variations in flow through the meter, a secondary by-pass conduit,and a valve controlling the ilow of material from lthe pump through thesecondary by-pass or to the flow meter and -main by-pass conduit.

8. Flow producing and controlling apparatus comprising a main` flowconduit, a pump therein, a ow meter, and a by-pass vconduit leading tothe intake side of the pump, the main conduit being arranged to supplymaterial vfrom the pump tothe meter and the`.bypass conduit, a valvecontrolling the return llow through the by-pass conduit, a motoroperating the flow control valve, an electric generator driven by themeter, and photo-electric apparatus controlled by the output o f thegenerator and in turn controlling the actuation of the valve motor tore-position the flow valve in accordance with variations in flow throughthe meter, said photo-electric apparatus including a measuringinstrument energized by the output of said generator, photo-electriccells, light sources, ampliers connected with the cells, and av motorcontroller yitself operated by' the amplifiersV and in turn controllingthe operation of the valve motor. ,Y v

9. Flow producing and controlling apparatus comprising a main flowconduit, a pump therein, a flow meter, and a by-pass conduit leading tothe intake side of the pump, the main conduit being arranged to supplymaterial from the pump to the meter and the by-pass conduit, a valve.controlling the return flow through the by-pass conduit, a motoroperating the flow control valve, an electric generator driven by themeter, photoelectric apparatus controlled by the output of the generatorand in turn controlling the actuation of the valve motor to re-positionthe flow valve in accordance with variations in flow through the meter,said photo-electric apparatus including a measuring instrument energizedby the output of said generator, photo-electric cells, light sources,amplifiers connected with the cells, and a motor controller` itselfoperated by the ampliers and in turn controlling the operation of thevalve motor,

a secondary oy-pass conduit, and a valve contro1

